426th Show & Tell Competition: A DAY AT THE ZOO - WINNER

[kazmierczyk]

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A big thank you to all the participants for their entries. With so many high quality contributions, the selection was not easy. Let’s start with the honourable mentions, in the order in which photos arrived:

The cuteness factor of these baby cheetahs by luxun45 is off the charts. A big smile and a big thumbs up.



This orangutan shot evokes a mix of bitter sweet emotions. Technically not a masterpiece, but a measure of a good photo is that it should trigger a reaction in the viewer. This one does.



Great photo, and a fitting title by Szczepan. For my money, I would crop off a bit of the empty grass on the right, but the portrait you captured is already very good.



I love the fascination in the little girl’s eyes on this photo by Paul. You can see she had quite a happy day, and probably talked about it for hours.



Beautifully composed portrait of a pelican by Ken. And a very funny title - indeed, the look of this pelican reminds me of a couple of my friends in early morning



Very nice composition. Robin managed to elegantly fit part of the structure into the frame, so that it strengthens the photo. For me, the most interesting aspect of this photo is that it is a successful ‘environmental portrait’ more than merely a picture of the aquarium




Now the winners:

Third place to Marcel, for the beautifully composed portrait of the flamingo. I love how diffused flamingos in the background fill in the entire frame. Great work!





Second place goes to Aldeca, for the mesmerizing portrait of a killer whale in its artificial world. I love the silhouettes of the visitors, reminding me of the Chinese shadow theatre. Bravo for seeing the potential here!




First place goes to Walter. The photo is simply stunning – well composed, eye catching, and slightly scary. I do not know if it is a croc or a toad - either way, the shot is superb. Put yellow frames around it and it could well be on the cover of National Geographic. A proof what great results one can can get photographing wildlife in a zoo – which was the purpose of the entire exercise to start with



Again, congrats to all the winners, and Walter, over to you now.
Pawel

[amoxtli]

Thanks very much for choosing my image Pawel. I photographed this crocodile in 2010. It remained motionless for a long time. I think maybe it slept with its eyes open. The most difficult thing was dealing with the dirty and scratched glass and the other Zoo visitors.
I will post the next Competition this evening.
Best,
walter

[sylvester]

Beautiful selections and excellent, useful commentary from the judge. Just last night I found a couple of likely candidates in my collection--but the Lock was already on. Seeing these, I don't feel bad about missing this competition. Didn't have a chance! JM/Sylvester

[kzaret]

Good topic and good commentary from Pawel. The winner is a great shot.

[robinlew]

Thanks for the HM. There were many great entries, especially from the winner.

[luxun54]

Thank you for the HM, a terrific winning shot!